Question

1. What is a sensitizer and a suppressor? And how are they related to the approach and avoidance motivation?

2. Compare Freud’s theory with humanistic theory.

Answer 1

Repression(suppression) and sensitisation are the coping strategies available to human .

Suppression that aim to protect the person from distressing and aversive stimulus by disregarding their aversive characteristics.

whereas sensitization comprises of coping strategies that are employed to reduce situational uncertainty such as analyzing the environment.

Both are related to avoidance and approach motivation as these all leads to survival .

Suppression tries to avoid threatening stimulus , situation by repressing it while sensitisation approaches the situation breaking into parts and then analyze it properly to reduce uncertainty.

Freuds psychoanalytic theory focuses on childhood experiences and unconscious mind role in development of personality while humanistic perspective developed as an opposition to this view and based on conscious awareness.

Freud considered human as pessimistic while humanistic theory consider a very positive image of a man. It considers every person as inherently good.

Freud focused on ID EGO AND SUPEREGO to explain the behavior, Carl Rogers and Maslow of humanistic school focused on concept of self and self actualisation.

Freud explained poersonality developnent through psycho sexual stages and resolution of conflict at each stage from childhood to adulthood. While humanistic consider personality development a life long process as evident from Maslow need hierarchy.